The origins of Partex date back to the very beginning of petroleum exploration activities in the Middle East.
Its founder, Calouste Gulbenkian, was the entrepreneur behind the formation of the Turkish Petroleum Company, in the years that preceded the First World War.
After the War - and lengthy negotiations - the Turkish Petroleum Company finally obtained a concession, signed in March 1925 and covering almost the whole of Iraq. Calouste Gulbenkian had a participation of 5% in the company.
In 1928, the signature of the Red Line Agreement and the confirmation of the shareholding participations of the Turkish Petroleum Company (the Company was then re-named to Iraq Petroleum Company) marked the consolidation of Calouste Gulbenkian's firm involvement in the oil industry in the region.
A decade later, in June 1938, Calouste decided to incorporate his assets in the oil business in a Company which he created in Panama: Participations and Explorations Corporation. The name of the Group - PARTEX - originates from the name of this Company.
Since Calouste Gulbenkian's death, in 1955, the Middle East oil industry and, as a result, the Group's holdings have changed significantly. These changes particularly affected the concessions held by the Iraq Petroleum Company which were nationalized in 1973.
As a result of the strategic decisions and business requirements of Partex, new companies have been created over the years. In March 1998, almost 60 years after the first company was created, a holding company was incorporated in Cayman Island - Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation - owned 100% by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. It became the holder of the Gulbenkian participations in the oil and gas business and, directly or indirectly, the only shareholder of all the Group Companies.
